Hillary Clinton awarded Liberty Medal in Philadelphia

Hillary Clinton addresses an audience of 1,370 people gathered on the lawn of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall Tuesday night. She received a standing ovation after her remarks. (Photo is courtesy of National Constitution Center)

In a few years a joint appearance might not be so cordial, but for one night at least potential presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush shared a stage and were on the same page.

“For her lifelong career in public service,” Bush awarded Clinton the Liberty Medal on an outdoor stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Tuesday night.

The former Florida governor is chairman of the center that is now celebrating its 10th anniversary as a headquarters for civic education and non-partisan debate.

In her acceptance speech, Clinton affirmed the National Constitution Center’s mission, stressing the need for “active citizenship” and debate that “sometimes can get pretty noisy.”

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Only once did she tread in political waters – when she backed President Obama’s call for action against Syria.

Ignoring the few dozen protesters chanting “Hands off Syria!” across the street — a chant heard clearly by the nearly 1,400 gathered for awards ceremony on the center’s lawn — Clinton said, “the Assad regime’s inhumane use of lethal chemicals against men, women and children … violates a universal norm at the heart of our global order and it demands a strong response from the international community led by the United States.”

Reverting to her civics-lesson theme, she added, “This debate is good for our democracy.”

Clinton said she was grateful for being “in a line of previous awardees Nelson Mandela and Vaclav Havel and so many others whom I have long admired.”

She thanked “friends” Mayor Nutter and former Gov. Ed Rendell, adding, “a special thank you to Jeb Bush for his commitment to the National Constitution Center.”

After reminding the audience that this was not the first time a Clinton and a Bush shared the stage (“my husband” and “your father” were jointly honored with 2006 Liberty Medals for their Asian tsunami and Katrina relief efforts), she called the former presidents “the classic Odd Couple of American politics” and said “they just had one of their annual play dates” in Kennebunkport, Maine. “Today Jeb and I are not just renewing an American tradition of bipartisanship, we’re keeping up a family tradition as well,” she said.

Clinton had reportedly planned to give a more vigorous policy speech about national security surveillance but scrapped it when the public debate over Syria heated up.

As usual, she remained mum on a possible presidential bid in 2016 but speakers who preceded her to the dais dropped obvious hints.

Penn President Amy Gutmann, a National Constitution Center trustee who chaired the committee that selected Clinton, talked about how it would have been impossible to imagine a woman at the head of a major university, as secretary of state, and as “something some of us can’t wait to celebrate, the first woman president of the United States.”

Nutter was even more direct, saying that he expected Clinton to be “the first first lady to walk back into the White House as president.”

And Jeb Bush even joked about a potential matchup.

“Hillary and I come from different political parties, and we disagree about lots of things,” Bush said, “but we do agree on the wisdom of the American people… especially those in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

He said he heard Clinton was visiting Iowa next week and warned her not to “actually wear the medal there.”

Also paying tribute to Clinton from the stage were Republican communications strategist Mark McKinnon; Roxana Saberi, the American journalist accused of spying whom Clinton worked to free from an Iranian prison; and Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center.

“The Liberty Medal recognizes individuals who have furthered the ideals of freedom, democracy and equality, often against great odds,” Rosen said. “Hillary Clinton has devoted her life to expanding opportunities for ‘We the People” not just in this country but around the globe.”

Video tributes were offered by an array of luminaries including former award recipient Tony Blair, tennis legend Billie Jean King, actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, various Wesleyan College classmates, former U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, who is Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who applauded Clinton’s “admirable sense of civic duty.”

The Liberty Medal has been awarded for 25 years, beginning with Polish Solidarity founder Lech Walesa in 1989. Past winners include Colin Powell in 2002, Bono in 2007, Steven Spielberg in 2009 and Muhammad Ali last year.